It wasn’t supposed to end the way it did but Mikey Garcia (31-0-0, 26KO) isn’t complaining. How can he when he just won a title?

Top Rank hyped the title fight at the MSG to the max. In paper it looked like it would be a terrific fight - something of the caliber of the Rios-Alvarado fight.

WBO featherweight Orlando Salido (39-12-2- 27KO) was a great champion. He earned his title the hard way. Mikey Garcia on the other hand earned the top challenger position as well by staying undefeated throughout his career.

So in many ways Top Rank was so right in hyping the fight.

But tonight was not Salido’s night. Nothing he did throughout the fight could negate the long reach and the punching power of Mikey Garcia.

Garcia was hungry and he was focused. In fact, he was so calm and collected compared to his brother-trainer who kept on shouting instructions from the corner where he sat.

Garcia showed very early that he was not stepping off the ring as a loser. He started right off the bat by dropping Salido twice in round one.

Although Salido seemed more angry than hurt, the early knockdowns predicated the outcome.

Garcia dropped Salido two more times, once in round 3 and another one in round 4.

In round 8th, during a heated exchange along the ropes Salido accidentally head-butted Garcia in the nose breaking the bridge of Garcia’s prominent nose.

After consultation from the doctors, the fight was waived off, as Garcia could not continue to fight. The fight then went to the scorecards. Garcia who was leading by a very wide margin (79-70, 79-69, 79-69) was declared the winner by Technical Decision and thus became the new WBO featherweight champion.

Some pundits criticized the decision saying that Garcia could have continued. “Many fighters went on to fight with worse injuries,” one pundit said. However, in this case there was no point for the fight to go on. Garcia was so well ahead on points and Salido has no chance to win.